Not just everyone can lose five planes. I'm sure McCain has learned a lot from that . . . .

Of course John McCain's "base" (the Media) will come out and defend him squarely, as they so blatantly did not for John Kerry.

As the wealthy media elite, the Bush Administration has been very good for them: Both for providing "access" in return for uncritical stenography and for relieving them of the necessity of paying significant taxes to support the war our reproters cheered (and contine to cheer) on.

If John McCain is not elected President, it will not be for want of support from our "Mainstream" Media.

During McCain's time as a POW he was offered an early release.

He refused that release, telling his captors that those who were taken prisoner before him should be released first.

I can't think of a better qualification for a president, than the willingness to put the concerns of others above one's self.

John McCain demonstrated a willingness to do that, like no other politician I have encountered.

Wesley and this author take a very narrow view of McCain's service. An ignorant one, I will add.

Please keep it up, wesley, and salon. Show the world who you truly are.

Having 8 to 10 homes while pretending to be a common man and not knowing the price of gas while the rest of the country grinds to a halt from high energy prices....that qualifies you to be president.

Clark is concertedly campaigning for the VP spot. National security and "patriotism" (whatever it is) are Obama's weakest links, and he isn't going to overcome it with a nice speech. As a war hero, McCain has all the "bomb 'em" credentials he needs times ten.

Clark knows what he's saying falls on deaf ears in the GOP and virtually everybody else but centrists and independents who still haven't made up their mind. The more coverage Clark gains the more Barack will be influenced.

You should hear what McCain's flight lead from October 26, 1967 has told me about McCain -- that if he were a better pilot (and a better officer), he wouldn't have been shot down. He was out of position, out of formation and ignoring his radio.

According to him, it was typical of McCain, whom he feels was given significant slack by the chain of command due to his family name; were it any other pilot, he told me, he would have been drummed out of the aviation community (and perhaps the Navy) long before his 23rd mission.

Mind you, this isn't the opinion of just some line officer, but a retired Admiral, who attained a very senior position in the Navy before retiring (to say more would identify him -- if he wants to publicly criticize McCain, I'll let him do it himself).

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Besides, I think it says enough about McCain that he managed to get a jet slot (something only the top 1% of graduates receive), after just barely avoiding being the anchor for his USNA class, he crashed 3 aircraft prior to his shootdown, and crashed one more after returning from Vietnam, despite his doctors and flight instructors recommending that he not fly again.

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Sure, McCain survived torture and coercion whilst in the POW camp, and I have no wishi to denigrate that experience, but the fact that he followed standing orders regarding U.S. POWs, and the orders of the SRO in his camp by refusing to be released absent the release of his fellow POWs isn't that remarkable (hundreds of other POWs suffered similarly and faced similar dilemmas -- i.e., sign the confession and go home...). And I'm not sure how being tortured for years provides presidential experience.

During McCain's time as a POW he was offered an early release.

He refused that release, telling his captors that those who were taken prisoner before him should be released first.

I've heard this a lot, and I'm not saying it isn't true. It seems weird, though. Since when, if you're a POW, do you get to dictate your release? I mean, why didn't they just say, "tough, we're letting you go"?

Anyway, if being a POW makes you qualified to be president, we must have thousands of potential presidents out there. John McCain's main qualification is being the son of an admiral, and having life handed to him on a silver platter.

"During McCain's time as a POW he was offered an early release."

And the source of this tale? John McCain.

John McCain's a real war hero, just ask him, he'll tell you how heroic he was.

Good luck finding any independent, disinterested verification of his heroism.

Clark sure is an intelligent guy. I have been wanting Obama to pick Hillary as his running mate, but if he doesn't, I can't think of a better second choice than Wesley Clark. I can't belive that this is what has the right so unhinged. It is a good lesson about how they intend to act during the fall. I have come to think that this year will be such a blowout for the Democrats...finally, after the last 7 years of ruinous governance by the republicans. It is so laughable that those idiots on the right keep trying to say there is a Liberal Media Bias. What clowns.

Wesley Clark is right, just that McCain flew sorties 40 years ago does not make him an expert in defending the country in 2009. John McCain would have been a good opponent for Al Gore in 2000, but the bushmob swiftboated him too fast in the primaries that fateful year. Now he is a man of the past, and while I would drink a beer with McCain for sure, it's Obamas time for changing the US, and the world, for the better.

Or for John F Kennedy? (hint---the only other president to have been shot down, AFAIK)

If anything, the presidency should be renamed the Reagancy. Lets' check his "bomb 'em" credentials, shall we?

Sheesh.

It'd be kind of hard to be shot down from a PT boat, don't you think? :-)

George HW Bush was shot down in WWII.